Acute impacts of biologging devices on the diving behaviour of Manx shearwaters
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Published Version
Date
2025
Authors
Clairbaux, Manon
Darby, Jamie H.
Caulfield, Emma
Jessopp, Mark J.
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
BioMed Central Ltd
Published Version
Abstract
Biologging studies rely on the assumption that equipped animal behaviours are representative of the ones displayed by unequipped individuals. Identifying any tagging effects is therefore necessary to correctly interpret recorded data from equipped animals. The majority of seabird studies report an absence of tag effects using broad metrics such as breeding success or foraging trip duration. However, animals may compensate for tag attachment through increased effort or behavioural responses. We compared foraging trip and dive characteristics of 42 breeding Manx shearwaters (Puffinus puffinus) equipped with a range of biologging tags representing 0.9–3.7% body mass. There was no evidence that increasing tag weight affected foraging trip duration, but individuals equipped with heavier tags travelled shorter distances and at slower speed as well as spending more time in Area Restricted Search behaviour. The number of dives performed per hour of foraging trip was not affected by increasing tag weight, but individuals with the heaviest tags conducted shorter and shallower dives with slower ascent rates than those equipped with lighter tags. Additionally, birds equipped with the heaviest tags increased resting time between dives, suggesting a need to recover from a greater physiological cost of diving when equipped. Our study is one of the few that describe acute tagging impacts on seabird diving behaviour and foraging effort, suggesting that deployments should be kept as short as possible to limit cumulative impacts. © The Author(s) 2025.
Description
Keywords
Behavioural compensation , Biotelemetry , Foraging behaviour , Seabird tracking , Tag effects , Tag weight
Citation
Clairbaux, M., Darby, J. H., Caulfield, E. and Jessopp, M. J. (2025) 'Acute impacts of biologging devices on the diving behaviour of Manx shearwaters', Animal Biotelemetry, 13(1), p.5. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40317-025-00399-0